Shades of Gray
by DramaLexy
Summary: There are some lines that there's no going back from after crossing. Post Critical Mass, Kavanagh decides to get a little revenge. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Shades of Gray

AUTHOR: DramaLexy

SUMMARY: There are some lines that there's no going back from after crossing. Post-Critical Mass. R&R

DISCLAIMER: If only they were mine...but they're not.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is for my roommates who constantly bug me to write. One wanted a story that was more or an ensemble piece. The other requested some whumping and provided me with the means to keep going once I hit writers block in the middle. Hope you enjoy the result of their demands.

* * *

The Wraith Cruisers had circled over the planet for several hours, which was highly unnerving for everyone in Atlantis, but they'd finally left, and the city had resumed normal operations, allowing Zelenka's team to return from M7G-677 and the expedition's pilots to begin ferrying the Athosians back to the mainland.

The Daedalus was effectively grounded in the city while Hermiod and a team of engineers and scientists worked to figure out if a beaming extraction of the Goa'uld in Caldwell was possible. Elizabeth had been able to dial back to Earth and inform the SGC that the city was safe and the bomber had been identified, plus send that week's data uplink. All in all, the day had been successful. So why didn't she feel relieved?

What she had told Sheppard had been correct – the inhabitants of the city of the Ancients were no better than the enemy they were fighting, with respect to distrust and violence within their own group. Two years ago, she never would have allowed herself to give an order like the one she'd given Ronon earlier that day. She'd hated the military for behaviors exactly like the one she condoned today. Some part of her wondered if Caldwell – no, the thing IN Caldwell – had taken pleasure in convincing her to torture a person that he knew to be innocent.

"Dr. Weir?"

She looked up at the sound of a voice and saw that one of the officers that was on-shift in the control room was currently standing in her office doorway. "What's going on, Lieutenant?"

"We just got a transmission from Colonel Sheppard, ma'am. They finished taking everyone back to the mainland and are on their way back to the city."

"Thank you."

She tried to focus on the work she needed to get done – the day's activities had resulted in a rather impressive number of reports that needed to be filled out – but was soon interrupted once more. "Beckett to Dr. Weir," she heard Carson's say over her headset.

"Go ahead."

"I just thought you might like to know that Dr. Kavanagh is awake and I've released him from the infirmary." Elizabeth sighed.

"Thank you, Carson."

It had definitely been a hell of a day.

* * *

When Kavanagh got back to his quarters on the Daedalus, he locked the door behind him and started rifling through his belongings for one item in particular. He hadn't been thrilled when Beckett had told him upon awakening that he would be stuck in Atlantis for the next couple of weeks at least while Weir's golden boy, Rodney McKay, and the freaky little alien in the engine room tried to figure out a way to help Colonel Caldwell. Kavanagh didn't really care what happened to the ship's commanding officer one way or another. Everything that had happened in Atlantis was Caldwell's fault, and it was because of him that Kavanagh had once again been made into a villain.

He finally found the thing he'd been looking for – a small red vile that he'd acquired the last time he was on Earth. He may not have had any friends on Atlantis, but he had a couple among the other scientists at SGC, and one of them had picked this up for him while off-world. He'd intended upon using it once he returned to Atlantis, but soon found that he was unable to force himself to actually carry out the deed. THAT was the real reason that he'd been going back to Earth; he'd never wanted to return to Atlantis for anything other than revenge. He'd let his conscience get in the way the last time, but as he looked at the small crimson bottle, Kavanagh promised himself that that would not happen again.

He pocketed the bottle, and then headed out of his quarters and back to Atlantis to put his plan in action.

* * *

TBC... 


	2. Chapter 2

By the next morning, things were back to life-as-normal. John had a late morning training session with Teyla after stopping by Elizabeth's office just to check in. "How are you doing?" he asked her as they both stretched out. "I heard about your friend…I'm sorry."

"Thank you, Colonel. Things are…difficult, but it was what Charin wished. I am trying to keep my mind occupied." John nodded.

"I understand that."

They faced off with each other, and Teyla attempted the first offensive blows. John managed to parry a few, but soon felt the sting of her stick when he missed a block. It almost felt like he was moving in slow motion compared to her speed; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep up.

"Should I ask whether or not you have been practicing, Colonel Sheppard?" Teyla asked with a sly grin.

"I swear that I have…at least as much as normal." He took a swing at her, which was easily blocked and followed with a counter attack. It didn't take long before John was on the floor.

After three straight bouts with the same effect, John was beginning to get annoyed. "Okay, I know you're actually this good, but I'm not actually this bad, so what the hell is going on?" he wondered aloud.

"You are not anticipating," Teyla told him.

"I am, just by the time my brain is done anticipating it, it's already in the past." He shook his head, as though to clear it. "I don't know; maybe I'm starting to get that cold that everyone was getting last week."

"If that is the case, perhaps you should visit Dr. Beckett." John frowned.

"That's not really necessary…Where I'm from, guys don't voluntarily go to the doctor, especially not for a little cold. You've gotta have limbs missing or something…multiple limbs missing."

Teyla rolled her eyes. "And your culture still survives?"

* * *

"Are you all right, Dr. Weir?" Zelenka asked as he came to the doorway of the city's leader's office. She looked pale and exhausted, but tried to pretend otherwise as she give him a small smile. 

"I'm fine. Just a little tired. I think I might have that bug that was going around the city."

"You work too much."

"Did Sheppard send you up here to say that?"

"No. Just my own observation. I came to bring you status report on our progress with the extraction." He handed her a file. "The calculations are going well; we hope to be able to run tests soon."

"Good, thank you."

Zelenka nodded. "I hope that you feel better soon," he told her before leaving. Elizabeth smiled slightly.

"So do I," she murmured, even though he was already gone.

* * *

As Kavanagh headed back through the Daedalus on his way to his quarters, he stopped by the engine room and was surprised to see the crowd of people working there. 

"Can you check this?" Dr. Novak was asking Zelenka, handing him the tablet PC that she'd been working with. He looked over her work.

"Yes, excellent. We are good to go with this set of calculations," Zelenka told Hermiod.

"What's going on?" Kavanagh asked. All conversation ceased as everyone turned to look at him.

"We are working on calculations for extraction process," Zelenka spoke up.

"Extraction?"

"Of the Goa'uld in Colonel Caldwell."

"Using beaming technology?" Everyone nodded. "Oh…When did this team get put together?"

"As soon as the city was out of danger. I believe you were…otherwise occupied at the time," Zelenka explained a bit smugly. Kavanagh noticed a few scientists and engineers try to hide snickers at that last comment.

"I've been UN-occupied for over a day now."

"The team that has been assembled has things under control," Hermiod evenly told him, although he also looked a little too haughty, in his own way.

"Right," Kavanagh said as he turned away and left the room. He hadn't had any regrets about what he was doing before, but now he just had one – that the effects weren't going to be more widespread.

* * *

"I don't see why I have to get scanned," Ronon told John as they had lunch together in the mess hall. "I haven't ever been to your galaxy." 

"Well, then, that means you don't have anything to worry about, right?"

Ronon glared. "It's completely unnecessary."

"Everyone in the city is getting tested. Dr. Weir's order, and I agree with it. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"If you say so."

"I do," John replied. Or at least, that's what he meant to reply. Instead, what came out of his mouth was basically gibberish "Blay-deck." Ronon frowned.

"What?" John was pretty confused himself. His attempt to repeat himself also resulted in a few unintelligible syllables.

"Nu-dan-blay-deck."

Ronon got up, his eyes a bit wide. "Come on, you need to see Dr. Beckett."

* * *

TBC... 


	3. Chapter 3

Elizabeth hadn't started feeling better yet; in fact, she was feeling worse. The thing she wanted most was to go get a nap, and she hadn't taken a nap since kindergarten. "I'll be back later," she told one of the officers in the control room as she left her office. "If anybody asks, you don't know where I am, and you don't think I have my radio with me."

The man smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

"Beckett to Dr. Weir," she heard over her headset before she could take another step.

"Yes, Carson?"

"I think you need to come down to the infirmary."

"What happened?"

"Ronon brought Colonel Sheppard in. He's seems to be suffering from aphasia." Elizabeth frowned.

"Did you just say aphasia?"

"Yes, now you understand my concern. He's completely unable to communicate coherently. I've started doing scans, but I thought you should know what's going on."

"Thank you. I'll be there soon…So much for the nap," she muttered to herself once the radio connection had been broken.

As she started down the stairs, Rodney began hurrying up them towards her. "Ah, just the person I was looking for," he said.

"Aren't you supposed to be working on the Daedalus with Hermiod?" she asked.

"Well, yes, but I got another idea and turned things over to Zelenka for the moment."

"Is this an emergency, or can it wait until later?"

Rodney frowned. "Why? I'm here, you're here…"

"I was actually just leaving."

"Oh. Well, I'll walk with you and talk on the way."

They left the control room together with Rodney chattering a mile a minute and Elizabeth doing a good job of pretending to pay attention. "So, what do you think?" he finally asked.

"Cab-lirk-ed-wek."

They both stopped short. "I'm sorry?" Rodney asked.

"El-kad-less-mer." Elizabeth looked just as surprised as he was.

"Elizabeth…can you understand me?" She just stared – what he was saying to her didn't make any more sense in her head than what she was saying to him. Rodney sighed. "Oh, God."

* * *

A few minutes later, Beckett suddenly had two patients that had mysteriously developed the same major symptom. Of course, neither one of them could communicate either verbally or on paper to tell the doctor what else had been going on. The medical team got them both set up in a corner of the infirmary to get some rest while they waited for the rest of the test results.

"Well, we can rule out causes like stroke or other brain trauma," Carson told Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon as they met in the conference room to discuss their situation. "It's near impossible that both of them, on different sides of the city, suffered the same injury with the exact same results."

"Unless it was foul play," Ronon spoke up.

"Do we have another virus in the city?" Rodney asked the doctor.

"I don't think so. The city's defenses have not been enabled, and no one else has reported any symptoms."

"But you still do not know for sure what is causing this?" Teyla inquired.

"No. Right now we need to find anything that the Colonel and Dr. Weir may have come in contact with."

"Things like what?" Ronon asked.

"Any items that may have been acquired off-world, anything found in random areas of the city…And as much as I hate to say it, we have to consider things they may have eaten or drank." That got everyone's attention, especially McKay.

"Wait, you think that the food supply in the city has been tampered with?"

"Not all of it, Rodney, or else we'd all have been affected."

"You think somebody poisoned them," Ronon deduced.

"I hope not," Carson replied.

* * *

There was still the possibility that whatever had caused the aphasia had been an airborne agent on something in their belongings, so Beckett had Sheppard and Weir's quarters quarantined and searched by the medical team. Rodney had been left somewhat in charge, along with Major Lorne on the military side, which was keeping them busy. Ronon and Teyla helped out with the investigation by trying to track down information what the city's leaders had eaten for the past couple of days. Teyla was the one that found a still-half-full coffee cup on Elizabeth's desk in her office.

"It's definitely not just coffee," Beckett revealed a couple hours later after tests had been run, "Although I'm not certain what the chemical in it is. I found traces of the same thing in the pot in Dr. Weir's office as well."

"So they WERE poisoned," Teyla said, just to clarify.

"It certainly seems that way. We don't know, though, if this was part of the plot for Colonel Caldwell's Goa'uld, or if someone else is to blame."

"It's possible," Rodney said. "There probably was enough time for Caldwell to have done something during the whole crisis, and no one would've noticed. I'm not sure how that would fit with the rest of his mission, though."

"His plans with the transmitter weren't immediately clear, before," Carson pointed out.

"True."

"I don't think it was Caldwell," Ronon spoke up. "There's no threat to their lives – "

"That we know of," Beckett cut him off. "We have no idea what the effects of this poison will be, if it's survivable, or how long it will take to run its course."

"I don't think it was him," Ronon repeated, simply. "It doesn't feel like a tactical move. More like something personal."

Rodney frowned. "Personal?"

"Yeah. And if that's the case…anyone else thinking the same person I'm thinking?" Ronon asked.

"Aye," Beckett told him. "Although we have no evidence of his guilt."

"We don't need evidence. Apparently all I've got to do is walk in the door and his spine melts."

"Dr. Kavanagh has already been falsely accused once," Teyla pointed out. "Luckily, there was no damage done. What will happen if you are again incorrect?"

"I'm willing to take that chance," Ronon replied.

"We have to at least talk to him," Beckett agreed. "If he is responsible, he's the only one who knows exactly how dangerous whatever he gave Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir is."

"Resorting to violence will most likely not be necessary," Teyla tried again. "If he is guilty, I do not believe he will be ashamed."

* * *

TBC...

please R that's the only way I know if I should keep going


	4. Chapter 4

Pretty much everyone in the city could agree that Rodney wasn't all that threatening of a presence. Appropriately, Kavanagh didn't seem all that concerned when the scientist brought him into Atlantis' conference room that evening for a little chat.

"Are we doing this again?" Kavanagh asked. "What the hell happened now that just HAS to be my fault?"

"You know exactly what's happened, so let's just skip to the part where you start talking. We both know how bravely you held out the last time reinforcements were sent in." Kavanagh glared, but was noticeably uncomfortable as he shifted in his chair.

"I was innocent," he shot.

"Yes. WAS being the key word. Different day, different crime."

"SUPPOSED crime."

"Right, right, yes." They both looked up as the door opened, and Kavanagh went unnaturally pale before he realized that it was only Teyla, holding two cups. "Thank you," Rodney told her as he took one of them. The other was put on the table in front of Kavanagh before she left the room. "You might as well drink it," Rodney told him when he saw the scientist hesitate. "We're going to be here for a while if you don't start talking."

"Talking about what?" he asked as he took the mug.

"Well…the reason that I'm the one wasting my time in here with you is because both Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir have fallen ill. No one on our wonderful little medical team seems to know what caused it."

Kavanagh took a sip of his coffee, but Rodney noticed that he looked a little bit surprised. "And automatically it's my fault," he said.

"Your words, not mine." Rodney pulled a small red vile out of his pocket and held it up in view. "So…how much of this stuff do you have to use for one good dose? There really should be an instruction label on the side." Kavanagh spit his coffee back into the cup. "What's the matter?"

"You didn't really…did you?"

Rodney smiled. "We wanted to. But see, then you would be unable to talk. And as enjoyable as that would be, it wouldn't be very useful in helping Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir."

Kavanagh decided to pretend to be brave. "I was just 'doing what has to be done'," he said. "Wasn't that how sticking that freak on me was justified?"

"One big difference – Ronon never did anything to you."

"Are you trying to tell me he wouldn't have if given the chance?" Rodney didn't answer. "Sheppard wasn't even my target, although I can't say I'm disappointed. They'll be fine in another 48 hours or so."

"You know this for a fact?"

"That's what I was told when I obtained the stuff. It's not lethal, and if an antidote actually exists, it's in another galaxy. Anything else?"

"Yeah. McKay to Ronon," Rodney said after turning on his radio. The door opened to reveal the ex-runner. "Can you take Dr. Kavanagh to his new living accommodations?"

Ronon nodded once. "Sure."

"Good." Rodney smiled at the other scientist. "It might be a little bit of a…rough trip."

* * *

It was difficult for everyone in the infirmary to see the city's two leaders in their current state. Sheppard and Weir didn't even understand each other, but a combination of attempting to speak and hand motions worked better with each other than trying to communicate with anyone else. They were cut off from everyone in the city, from people who only stood ten feet away, but couldn't do anything to help them. 

"This is going to be a very long couple of days," Carson commented to Kate Heightmeyer when the psychiatrist stopped by late the next morning to observe. "I think I'd even prefer Rodney screaming at me to this."

"At least they are trying to continue talking," Heightmeyer told him. "I'm sure it would be far less frustrating to simply pull away from everything into their own minds."

"Aye. I'd guess that was what Kavanagh had thought would happen, the little bastard…I wish we could tell them that we know what's happening now; that hopefully this should only be temporary."

"Have you tried talking to them?"

"It didn't work out too well. We're trying to just make sure that they're comfortable. That's about all we can do for them right now."

* * *

John and Elizabeth had no idea what was going on, but they both knew that no one around them seemed to be too terribly concerned – a fact that could either be comforting or very disturbing. 

"Kay-rik-fal food." Both of them looked up in surprise as they heard their first sensible word in hours. Even more shocking, it had come from John's mouth. "Whoa," was the next thing he said, just as unexpected. It took a bit of concentration, but he actually forced a sentence out: "Can you understand?"

"Y-yes," Elizabeth replied, her eyes wide. "What…just happened?"

"No idea."

Even though he'd originally been out of earshot, the looks on their faces had gotten Beckett's attention by that point. He heard the tail end of their conversation as he and Kate approached. "You can both speak and understand each other?" he asked the pair.

"I can understand you, too," Elizabeth said. John nodded.

"I don't believe it."

"What the hell has been going on?" Sheppard asked.

"You were both poisoned, which caused the aphasia you were experiencing. However, I don't understand why you're all right now."

John raised an eyebrow. "Doc, we were doing baby-talk for almost a day. I'm quite happy to be all right now, so what are you talking about?"

"It's supposed to take forty-eight hours for the drug to get out of your system."

"You know what it was?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not exactly. But we know who did it."

* * *

TBC... 


	5. Chapter 5

Beckett wanted to keep both John and Elizabeth in the infirmary for at least the rest of the day for observation, since he still had no idea why it seemed that the poison had worn off early. The drug was still in their bloodstreams, but there didn't seem to be any side effects.

John decided to start filling a sheet of paper with a list of things to do to Kavanagh once they were released. Elizabeth was pretty sure that he had no chance of getting away with most of them.

"You think we could put together a firing squad?" he asked at one point in the evening. Someone was supposed to be bringing them dinner soon, and Beckett had agreed to consider releasing them to sleep in their quarters for the night. "Or better yet, shut the gate down with his hand in it."

" John!"

"I've gotta pass the time somehow. This is…therapeutic or something."

"I'm sure."

"And no offense, but I think I'm going to pass the next time you offer me coffee in your office."

She smiled. "I think I'm going to as well. The walk to the mess hall isn't all THAT far."

"Yeah, think of it as exercise."

Elizabeth froze at a sudden sensation like someone cranking up the volume level in her head to full blast. Every noise around her was amplified: footsteps across the floor, the med techs talking on the other side of the room, the beeping of the machines, even her own breathing. It was all loud enough to be painful, and she instantly put her hands over her ears, wincing at the sound of her palms touching her head.

John watched her, concerned. " Elizabeth?" he asked, but his voice only made it worse. A moment later, she could tell that he was struck by the same affliction. One of the nurses noticed that something was wrong.

"Doctor!" she called to Beckett, who was in his office, as she hurried across the room. The word had the same effect as a spike being driven through John's skull.

Beckett and a few of the other med techs hurried over. "What's wrong?" he asked, and could see the reaction they both had to his voice.

"Too loud," John managed to force himself to say. Beckett sighed; he knew things had seemed too easy.

* * *

"I've had to sedate them," Carson told Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla, when they came by the infirmary late that night at his request, "Although I don't like it, and I'd rather not continue to do so. We have no idea if there's going to be some kind of reaction between what Kavanagh gave them and ordinary medicines." 

"You can't let them wake up, though," Rodney said. "I mean, you said you couldn't even try to help them without hurting them."

"I know. That's why we're moving them out of the infirmary."

"To where?" Teyla asked.

"A section of the north pier. No other people around, but they're far enough in the city that they're isolated from ocean noise. Right now we're setting up camera systems so that we can still monitor them. By the time they come out from the sedative, there will still be approximately sixteen hours before this wears off, and we have no idea what other surprises are in store."

"I can go talk to the mad scientist," Ronon offered with a grin.

"Someone should try. At this point, I'm inclined to think that it would be quite fitting if someone laced the little bugger's rations with a dose of his own medicine."

* * *

They'd thrown Kavanagh into the cell that was usually reserved for Wraith, and the guards had had some fun when he discovered the hard way that they actually had turned the force field on. 

"How's the eye?" Ronon asked him as he came into the room. Kavanagh just glared; his right eye was almost completely swollen shut.

"As if you didn't know," he shot.

"Hey, you really should be more careful on the stairs."

"What do you want now?"

"Well, it seems you weren't entirely forthcoming when Dr. McKay spoke to you about the effects of whatever you gave Sheppard and Dr. Weir."

"He only asked if it was going to kill them," Kavanagh replied. "If you don't have the right questions, you don't get the right answers." Ronon rather ceremoniously removed a knife from his boot, and then nodded to the guard, who lowered the force field and opened the door to the cell. That made their prisoner a little more cooperative. "What do you want to know?" he asked. Ronon put the tip of the knife under Kavanagh's chin.

"What else is this poison going to do to them?"

"Increased sensitivity to sound."

"What else?"

"That's all!"

"You do understand that if you're lying, I'll be back."

"You can't kill me. SGC will know!"

Ronon smirked. "If I have to pay you another visit, getting killed will be the least of your worries."

* * *

TBC... 


	6. Chapter 6

The area that had been set up for Sheppard and Weir on the north pier was a large lab that the team wasn't using because it had been deemed too far out of the way. They shut off all equipment that wasn't essential to minimize machine noise, and moved the city's leaders down there while they were still asleep. The sedatives they'd been given weren't supposed to wear off until morning, so most of the medical team was able to get a little bit of sleep as well.

"Any progress?" Beckett asked a couple of the doctors as he returned to the infirmary just after dawn. He received a few shaken heads. They had started trying to work on an antidote for the poison; the aphasia had been one thing, but this was torture. No one knew if they would be able to come up with anything faster than the normal course of the drug, but they had to try.

"Dr. Beckett?" of the nurses who was monitoring their video feeds called to him. As he approached, he could see on the screen that Sheppard was waking up.

Just the process of sitting up in bed made enough noise that he was wincing. As the noise – and pain – faded, John got a look at his surroundings. He knew he was in a lab, but nothing looked familiar. His eyes finally landed on a large dry erase board that was propped against the wall.

YOU'RE ON THE NORTH PIER TO MINIMIZE NOISE.

15 HOURS LEFT; WE'RE WORKING ON A QUICKER SOLUTION.

TELL THE CAMERAS IF YOU NEED ANYTHING.

There were three cameras around the room, and Sheppard waved at one of them. Food had been left on one of the lab benches, as well as anything else they would need. Someone had even gotten John's copy of War and Peace, although he wasn't in the mood for reading it at the moment.

A noise behind him made him cringe again, but he knew that Elizabeth was now awake as well. He pointed the sign out for her before lying back down as carefully and quietly as possible. If he had a fifteen hour wait ahead of him, he was going to get some sleep.

* * *

When Teyla and Ronon got to the mess hall after a morning training session, they noticed that Rodney was also there having breakfast. "May we join you?" Teyla asked as they approached with trays. 

"Sure," McKay mumbled around a mouthful of food. "I've got a full day a head on the Daedalus; we think we've got all the calculations for the extraction; now we can start testing."

"What happens to Caldwell if your plan works?" Ronon asked.

"He'll be taken back to Earth. What happens after that depends on exactly how long the Goa'uld has been in his brain. It's up to SGC to decide."

"Has anyone considered what we are going to do with our own prisoner?" Teyla asked.

Ronon smirked. "Personally, I like the sound of 'an eye for an eye'."

"You would," Rodney shot. "In the end, it's going to be Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard's decision…Things could get interesting."

* * *

Elizabeth hadn't ever really taken the time to consider all of the little tiny things there were in the world that made noise, but she'd now received an opportunity to do so, whether she wanted it or not. The sounds of her own lungs and heart were the loudest, followed closely by Sheppard's breathing. The electronics in the room were whirring not-so-quietly. There were several walls between her and the ocean, but she could still faintly hear the water lapping against the edge of the city. It was actually the most tranquil setting she'd been in for a very long time, but she was completely on edge, just waiting for whatever was going to come next. Sheppard had actually managed to fall asleep, but Elizabeth knew there was no chance of that happening for her. 

She flinched at the sound of a rustling noise, and figured that John was getting up for something. However, the noise didn't stop – he was seizing.

Beckett and his team noticed what was happening on the monitors at about the same time, and quickly left the infirmary. "There weren't supposed to be any other symptoms!" one of the med techs exclaimed as they hurried to the nearest transporter.

"This may be indirectly related," Carson replied. "In case you hadn't noticed, Colonel Sheppard's been wracking up quite a few frequent flyer miles in the infirmary lately. His system just may not be able to handle it all."

Elizabeth braved the additional noise that came from getting up, and moved over to Sheppard's bed. His eyes were open but she had no idea whether he was still conscious, if he could hear or see her. Every muscle in his body had gone rigid, and she wondered if it hurt – if it WOULD hurt when the same thing happened to her. Elizabeth knew that if he could hear her, speaking would be just as painful for him as it would be for her, so she simply took his hand and squeezed it, praying that the medical team would show up soon.

She could hear the med techs coming long before they actually arrived; by the time they got to the room she was in, the noise was pretty much unbearable. Elizabeth got out of the way, sliding down the wall behind her to sit on the floor.

"Let's get him on his side," Beckett said to the other doctors.

They began trying to treat John, checking his vitals and giving him medications. A heart monitor started beeping loudly once they got it hooked up. The doctors' voices rose in order to be heard over it. Instruments clanging added to the ruckus. The moments it took before anyone remembered their second patient were an eternity for the woman in the corner with her knees under her chin, her hands over her ears, and her eyes closed tight.

"Here," Beckett told one of the other med techs, handing the man a needle with a sedative. He nodded and went to administer the drug.

* * *

TBC... 


	7. Chapter 7

Despite the risk of medicines interacting, Beckett decided to keep Sheppard and Weir sedated for the rest of the day. They were both watched carefully by the medical staff, and finally their vitals started going back to normal.

"I think we're out of the woods," Beckett told Ronon and Teyla when they stopped by. "Although it's a miracle the Colonel didn't have a stroke."

"When are they going to wake up?" Ronon asked.

"In a few hours. I'd like to keep them here for the next day or so for observation."

"I doubt that decision will be taken well," Teyla pointed out with a smile.

"Believe me, I know. And don't either one of you start sneaking work down to them; they're going to need some rest before resuming their duties."

Ronon smiled. "Good luck with that plan, Doc."

* * *

About 90 minutes after they left, Elizabeth started to wake up, with John just a little bit behind her. Everything seemed to be back to normal, and there weren't any traces of the poison in their bloodstreams any longer. They were both starving after a long two days, and after they polished off the plates that were brought from the mess hall, John decided he was going back to sleep. Or rather, his body decided for him. One minute they'd been talking about plans for an escape from the infirmary the next day, and a minute later, John had been snoring. If Elizabeth hadn't also been exhausted, she would have been insulted.

But as tired as she was, sleep wouldn't come. She wasn't sure what drove her to get up out of bed, but the same force got her to slip by the graveyard shift of med techs in the infirmary and out into Atlantis' hallways. It didn't even register in her brain where she was going until she was halfway there.

The pair of guards at Kavanagh's cell looked pretty surprised to see her, not that she could blame them. Their prisoner was asleep on his loosely-named bunk in the cell. Elizabeth just watched him for a moment. As a person who had spent her life resolving conflicts, it was somewhat frightening that she had no idea how to solve the problem in front of her. He'd stepped so far over the line that it wasn't even visible anymore – and it felt like he'd taken her with him in the process.

_You don't have the strength to be leading the fight against the Wraith…_

Kavanagh's words from his interrogation echoed through her head. He had been cruel, yes, but he'd been right about one thing – she didn't value his opinion.

_If the Daedalus hadn't arrived at the eleventh hour, this city and everyone in it would have been wiped out because of your recklessness. There's no need for the Trust to blow us up when _ _Dr.__Weir__'s at the helm!_

Or, rather, she hadn't taken enough stock in his judgment of her to be concerned at the time. But now…he'd gone to amazingly desperate lengths to hurt her. And she'd never seen it coming. Was that her fault? Proof of the recklessness that Kavanagh had spoken of? Or a naïve belief that people – at least not the ones she knew and worked with – weren't capable of doing such horrible things to each other? Kavanagh had now shattered that belief.

"Sergeant," she said to the guard that was closest to her, "Let me have your sidearm."

The two guards looked at each other, surprised and concerned. "Excuse me, ma'am?"

"Give me your gun." The man pulled his handgun from its holster, but hesitated before giving it to her. No one in Atlantis had ever seen Dr. Weir with a weapon, not even on the extremely rare occurrences when she went off-world. He wasn't even sure if she knew how to fire one. "That was an order, Sergeant." He handed over the gun.

Their voices had woken Kavanagh up, and he stared, a bit confused, at the sight of Weir outside his cell. "Feeling better?" he asked her with a little grin.

"Open the door," Elizabeth told the guards. The bars slid back and the shield disappeared. It was then that Kavanagh got a look at what she was holding, and his smile melted away.

"What are you doing? You going to kill me? SGC would have a field day with that one." Elizabeth didn't move or say a word. "Can you still not talk?" he asked, the smirk starting to creep back. Kavanagh froze, however, at the sound of the safety being taken off. "Okay, come on. Seriously now, you can't shoot me."

The door to the room opened, and Sheppard and Beckett came inside. " Elizabeth?" John asked, stepping up beside her. "What are you…Give me the gun, Elizabeth." He carefully put his hand over hers, and when she didn't react, he took the weapon away. "Get her back to the infirmary," he told Beckett.

The doctor nodded, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, love. You shouldn't be up and about, and you're definitely not ready to have to deal with him." John watched them leave.

"Don't think I'm not going to mention this when I get back to SGC," Kavanagh commented. Sheppard turned to face him, raising the gun so that the barrel was pressed into the side of the scientist's neck, a straight shot to his brain. He absolutely froze.

"You might want to rethink that. I know that may be difficult for you, though, since I sincerely doubt you've got much up there to think with. You know, it absolutely blows my mind that someone could actually be so incredibly self-appreciating that they would be able to so easily play God over something as trivial and insignificant as your image. I'm going to share a tip with you, Kavanagh: what people think of you hasn't improved with this little stunt. And you've got no one to blame for that but #1." Without waiting for a reply, John returned the gun to the guard and stormed out of the room.

* * *

TBC... 

As always, feedback is much appreciated


	8. Chapter 8

The following evening, when Beckett released Sheppard and Weir, he ordered both of them to have a session with Dr. Heightmeyer in the next 24 hours. Elizabeth immediately disappeared up to her office after agreeing, but John had a few people he needed to talk to before trying to resume life as normal.

"Colonel," Rodney said in surprise when he saw his friend walk into the Daedalus' engine room. "Are you supposed to be out of the infirmary?"

John glared. "Yes, Rodney. I'm a free man."

"It is good to see you doing better," Zelenka told him.

"Thank you…I assume you've already heard through the city grapevine about the incident last night?"

Both men nodded. "How's Elizabeth now?" Rodney asked.

"I don't know. She didn't really say much of anything all day, but I'll tell you: the sight of her with a gun in her hand was really pretty terrifying. Her eyes were just...sub-zero cold."

"I believe he had it coming," Rodney said.

"I didn't claim otherwise," John replied. "We need to get him out of the city, but just sending him back to Earth seems too easy."

"What do you mean?" Zelenka asked.

"The SGC definitely isn't going to be happy with him, but he's not military. They've got no power over him. And even if they manage to get him in a civilian court without complaining witnesses being present, there aren't any normal people that know about Atlantis or alien poisons. Whatever story they come up with in order to go to court is going to be a half-truth at best. We send him back to Earth, and he'll get away with everything."

"We have to send him back," Rodney pointed out. "I mean, besides the fact that the alternative is keeping him here, he was already on a transfer back to Earth."

"Maybe there is another alternative," Zelenka suggested. "Keeping him here for a fair punishment without actually keeping him HERE."

"What are you talking about?" John asked.

"I believe that M7G-677 would benefit from the presence of engineer on planet for, say, few weeks, in order to make sure they have no further problems with EM shield. Wouldn't you agree, Colonel?"

John grinned. "Yeah. And I think I know just the person for the job. I'll take a jumper there tomorrow and talk to Keras, see if he has a problem with it."

"Tell him to make sure that they do the same thing with his hair that they did to Zelenka," Rodney said with a smirk. The Czech was not as amused.

* * *

The next morning, John, Teyla, and Ronon took a jumper to M7G-677. They parked the ship outside of the shield and then walked to Keras' village. The younger children were very happy to see them; John had immediately started handing out chocolate that he'd secretly swiped from McKay's stash before they left Atlantis.

"We were not expecting to see you again so soon," Keras told Sheppard once the team joined the 'elder' in one of the tree houses in the village. "The modifications your people made are working well."

"We're glad to hear that," John replied, "But the technology can be a bit complicated. We were thinking about having one of our engineers stay here for the next few weeks to monitor the shield generator and fix any problems that may come up."

"That is very kind of you."

"We would provide anything that he will need," Teyla assured the young man. "Food, a small shelter, and, of course, equipment for working with the shield."

"Yeah," John agreed. "He may not be very friendly at first, but that's part of the reason we're giving this assignment to him in particular. We think there's a lot he can learn here from your people."

"Like how to be a human being," Ronon muttered to himself.

"We welcome others of your people the same as we welcome you," Keras said.

Sheppard smiled. "Good. Looks like it's all settled then."

* * *

The walk back to the puddle jumper was mostly quiet until Teyla spoke up. "Why did you not tell Keras the truth?" she asked John.

"I did. Sort of. I do think that Kavanagh's going to learn a lot…whether he likes it or not."

"My vote would be on the latter," Ronon told him.

John smirked. "And as for the actual reason we want him out of the city…I didn't see a need in scaring them. I've got a guard picked out that's going to come as well to make sure things go smoothly here."

"I feel sorry for that man," Teyla said.

"Tell me about it. But I think he's due for a promotion soon."

* * *

TBC... 


	9. Chapter 9

Hermiod once again proved his genius, and he and Atlantis' science team were able to remove the Goa'uld from Colonel Caldwell. SGC wanted him back on Earth ASAP, so the Daedalus was getting ready to head home. However, there was one final thing that Caldwell wanted to do before leaving Atlantis for possibly the last time.

Elizabeth looked up from her tablet PC at the sound of a knock on the doorframe to her office. "Are you busy?" Caldwell asked her.

"Not very. Concentrating has been a little difficult lately. What can I do for you, Colonel?"

"I just wanted to give you this before I left." He handed her a file. "I'm not sure how much weight my signature carries anymore, but…"

Elizabeth quickly read over the paper. Sheppard had shared his plans for Kavanagh with her before his team had gone to M7G-677, and she had signed off on paperwork authorizing his delayed return to Earth. Caldwell had now come up with his own forms declaring that Kavanagh's tour should be extended due to an important mission with allies of the city that required his expertise. Elizabeth smiled as she realized who the second signature on the bottom of the page belonged to.

"Is this forged?" she asked, pointing to Kavanagh's signature.

"Of course not," Caldwell said, his lips curving into a smile. "Certain members of our two crews can be…extremely persuasive when they need to be."

Elizabeth smiled. "Thank you, Colonel."

"It's the least that I could do."

Weir stood and offered her hand. "I hope you will be making the return trip with the Daedalus in three weeks," she said.

"It might not be the first return trip," Caldwell replied as he shook her hand, "But I'll be back. You still owe me a rematch in chess." He turned and left the office. Elizabeth sighed as she sat back down. Everything was starting to settle down, but she still felt very out of sync.

* * *

"Colonel Sheppard!" John stopped short in the middle of one of Atlantis' hallways at the sound of Rodney's voice, letting the scientist catch up with him. "The Daedalus just took off. They're probably entering hyperspace by now," McKay informed him. 

John nodded. "Kavanagh got handed over to the kiddies about an hour ago. I think this is going to be highly entertaining." He held up what appeared to be a braid of hair.

"Oh my God," Rodney said. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yep. He wouldn't let Casta unbraid it so the kids could play with his hair, so one of them just cut it off. And if you didn't know it already, I can definitely tell you that those kids aren't professional barbers."

"That should get hung somewhere in the city as a monument once he's finally gone back to Earth."

John handed it to him. "I'll let you be in charge of that. You hungry?" Rodney shot him a Look. "Right, what was I thinking? Dinner in the mess?"

"Sure."

* * *

Elizabeth had also eventually intended upon going down to the mess hall to get something to eat, but instead she found herself down at one of the training rooms. Teyla was working with a couple of her students from the city, but stopped and bowed heads with them when she noticed her visitor. 

"Is something wrong, Dr. Weir?" she asked.

"No…I'm not sure. I'm sorry, I was just walking around the city and wound up here."

Teyla smiled, sitting by the window. "Would you like to talk?"

"I don't think I'd know what to say."

"It has been quite an eventful week," Teyla observed, and patiently waited for the next move to be made. Elizabeth was quiet for a long moment, but finally joined her by the window.

"For the past few days since this mess ended, I've felt like I was underwater. Everything's just slowly swimming by in front of me and I'm not really connected to any of it. There's a line that we all keep flirting with, and sometimes cross…On Earth, it was a lot easier to tell who the enemy was: a government, a dictator, a military commander. I could see things as black and white. And then I got thrown into all of this, this universe beyond Earth that I never knew existed…the thing I'm fighting against could be another race, or a person in the city, or even myself. Things aren't so simple anymore."

"Absolutes are safe," Teyla agreed. "Anything else is frightening to us."

"Can I actually lead this expedition and keep everyone safe if I'm going to hesitate in doing things that have to be done?"

"Your hesitation is what makes you different from the new enemies that you speak of. My father used to say that truly good leaders cannot be made, they are born. I have confidence that you will continue to lead us on the right path because fear is what keeps us from taking foolish chances."

Elizabeth slowly nodded. "Thank you," she said before leaving the room.

* * *

TBC... 


	10. Chapter 10

Late in the evening, Sheppard and Ronon could be found at the makeshift firing range in Atlantis. John was emptying his clips into normal paper targets. They'd put a Kevlar vest on Ronon's mark, hoping that would increase its usage lifespan somewhat.

John was in the middle of reloading when the door opened, and he was rather surprised by who came inside. "Elizabeth?"

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

"Kind of," John replied a bit warily. "I'm still trying to get the image of you and a gun out of my head from the last time." Nevertheless, after receiving a raised eyebrow, he put his weapon in her outstretched hand. Ronon had finally obliterated his target, and so folded his arms across his chest, amusedly watching. "Have you ever even fired a gun before?" John asked as she took aim.

Three bullets went straight through the center mark on the target. "It's been a while," Elizabeth replied, trying not to smile at their open-mouthed stares, "But I know how to fire a gun. That's part of why I don't like them so much, but that's a story for another day."

"Remind me not to piss you off," John muttered. Weir considered the weapon for a long moment before she handed it back to him.

"We're trying to put together a movie night in the rec room tonight, if you're interested."

"No chick flicks," John instantly responded.

"I make no promises," she replied with a grin before leaving.

* * *

Somehow Rodney had become the one in control of the movie box, so they wound up watching the Incredibles. Everyone had moaned and complained and tried to offer up other suggestions, but it DID provide a much-needed bit of amusement. 

John flicked a couple of kernels of popcorn in Rodney's direction at one point in the movie, but he just rolled his eyes. "Don't you think you're a bit too old for this?" he asked.

"No," John replied with a grin.

"If you could have one super power, what would it be?" Beckett tossed out for discussion.

"Super power?" Ronon asked.

"You know, like in the movie. Super speed or strength or what have you."

"That's an easy one," Sheppard said. "I'd fly."

That got snickers from everyone. "It's a bird, it's a plane, it is a Lieutenant Colonel," Zelenka teased, which got more laughs from all the earthlings in the room and a few well-aimed pieces of popcorn from the Air Force officer in question.

"I would want healing powers," Beckett predictably responded.

"Telepathy," Elizabeth chimed in. "It would come in handy with negotiations. And in getting a certain officer – who shall remain unnamed – to play by the book a little more often."

"What is this, pick-on-Sheppard day?" John asked.

"Is that not every day?" Teyla replied with a smile.

"I already have my superpower," Rodney cockily stated. "Brains beat anything else." That earned several handfuls of popcorn flying at him from multiple directions. Having not expected the onslaught, he screamed rather girlishly and upturned the bowl that he'd been holding in his lap. Kernels went flying everywhere. Everyone froze for one second, looking around at each other, before a full-out popcorn fight began.

"What is going on in here?" Lieutenant Cadman asked as she came to the door. "I could hear you guys halfway down the hall."

"We were watching a movie," Beckett told her. She looked to the TV, which was displaying the last few seconds of the end credits. "WERE being the key word," he amended.

"Right."

"You want to join us?" John asked her. "What are we watching next?" he questioned the group. Everyone began playfully bickering over the choices. Teyla caught Elizabeth's eye for a moment and was glad to see her friend smiling. Things were getting back to normal – or at least as normal as they ever got in Atlantis.

* * *

FIN. 

So? What'd you think? (hint, hint: use the blue button)


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